The directors of the Snapdragon Book Foundation are excited to announce Carlynton High School in Carnegie, Pennsylvania as our “Next Up” school for 2022. This school would have received a grant back in April if we had the funds and will now receive 100% of the donations to The Snapdragon Book Foundation during the month of September. Our goal is to raise $1,500.00 to fully fund their library project, Fill Our Classroom With Stacks of Books! The purpose of this project is to add titles as diverse as the student body in order to draw reluctant readers to new books and improve student confidence.
Carlynton High School serves hard working, economically disadvantaged families who live in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. Students are challenged to excel in the classroom, volunteer in the community and mentor each other. English teacher Wendy Steiner has worked at Carlynton for more than 15 years and makes time for reading every day. However, her small classroom collection (as there is no school library), is in dire need of current, high interest reads that mirror the school’s changing community. Books written by and about people of color, the LGBTQ+ community and cultures in other nations are in high demand and are unfortunately underrepresented. One Carlynton student stated, “I am a reader who likes a lot of different genres but is still figuring out which one will get me interested in reading a lot on my own.” To address this student’s and their fellow scholars’ needs, the funds secured through this grant will be used to purchase current titles requested by students across a variety of different genres, including How Beautiful We Were by Ibolo Mbue and The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers. Carlynton High School has been getting noticed for dynamic student-first initiatives focusing on mental health support and needs your help in continuing this critical work.
With your support, The Snapdragon Book Foundation’s Next Up campaign will be able to help the students at Carlynton High School by funding their project, Fill Our Classroom With Stacks of Books! Throughout September, we will broadcast updates about the “Next Up” fundraiser and more information about the school on our social media feeds and website (www.snapdragonbookfoundation.org). Please take a look and support the cause by donating today!